Confusion with Telstra Smart Modem

Hi, I just received a new Smart Modem to replace a Frontier that no longer showed the 4G backup light, and said "Searching for Network" all the time on the diagnostic page in the GUI.

Well, you could have pushed me over with a feather when the backup light failed to come on on the replacement Smart Modem. This time, the diagnostic page is saying 'Registration Denied'.

I spoke to an offshore expert via live chat, who assured me that: 1. The light should be off, until the NBN link failed, then it would come on. 2. Pulling the link to the NBN NTD didn't constitute an NBN outage, so the backup light wouldn't come on then either.

Now, I'm not inclined to judge this advice too harshly, even though it isn't reflected by the information on the card that accompanies the new Modem.

Do any actual experts browse this forum? Can you substantiate this advice? If it's real, how do I perform a test of my backup service? Why does the diagnostic say 'Registration Denied'?

I'm worried that any other offshore experts that I speak to will give me the same story,which I suspect will not help when I actually do have an NBN outage. If, as I suspect, the 4G backup is really broken - again - how do I speak to someone who will be inclined to actually help? When I got the Frontier replaced originally, it took 3.5 hours on the phone and chat. I'm not looking forward to breaking that record.

Re: Confusion with Telstra Smart Modem

Well, I'm back with good news.Carlos, my Case Manager, put me in touch with someone further up the food chain in the Broadband Support area who actually listened to my issues, got me to unplug the WAN cable (which had no effect) and then decided to send out a new Smart Modem. Carlos rode that to completion, and the new Smart Modem is sitting in my lounge room humming along -with the Signal light shining away happily.This time around, I only powered up the modem with no other cables attached. After booting up, the modem sat quietly for a while, and then the green 'Signal' light and pink 'Online' light went on showing a working and authenticated 4G connection. After taking some screen shots as evidence, I connected everything else and it all seems to work. The 'Signal' light is permanently on, although given the signal paths in my area it does change to orange occasionally.If only the first level people who handled my first 5 attempts at getting this fixed had listened and either sent out a new modem or at least escalated to someone with a clue. I'd have had this fixed a month ago. Instead, I got (repeatedly) the same BS about the light being supposed to be off, and that it would come on when I needed it, despite the 'Registration Denied' message in the GUI.I know that these guys are only following a script, but that's cold comfort to someone with an actual fault.Can someone get the offshore scripting amended to reflect reality? Can we also get the offshore KPIs amended so that they don't get penalized for escalating faults?I'm glad that this has eventually been sorted out, but it's taken some industrial strength whinging on my part, and some good work on Carlos's part. Imagine if 'Fix it first time' wasn't just a buzzword...NPS of +10 for Carlos and his mates.

Re: Confusion with Telstra Smart Modem

Russell, have you found a solution to this problem. I have the same issue.

Brand new Telstra Smart Modem delivered. Internet via cable is working fine but the "SIGNAL" light does not come on. If I pull the internet cable the backup does not kick in. No light at all.

Modem diagnostic page says "Registration Denied". Have been on phone with Telstra for a while yesterday, restarting Modem and Factory resetting. still no luck. They said wait 24hrs but that sounds absurd.

This is brand new device and supposed to be pre-configured at factory with 4G backup working.

Re: Confusion with Telstra Smart Modem

I had the same problem, suddenly no 4G backup on my Frontier gateway. I reported a fault, after two days I received a new Smart modem and no 4G back up either (signal light was not lit, and the mobile network status was “Registration Denied”). I dealt with level 1 support , then multiple level 2 support consultants (all off shore staff) and after a week I insist to lodge a complaint. The complaint manager arranged a technician to visit my place, at the end the technician replaced the modem with an old Frontier (it was on the back of his ute for months).

I now have 4G backup, but not sure for how long! I personally do not convince it’s a hardware issue (so many cases), it must be something on the LTE network and out of sudden it losts track of the authentication of a numbers of built in SIM. Perhaps Telstra should investigate further on this issue within their mobile network.

Telstra support consultant should not to ask the customer for the mobile number on the built in SIM, there is no mobile phone number on the gateway (or on it’s packaging).

Re: Confusion with Telstra Smart Modem

Well, I've just had my 5th attempt to get this issue cleared by Telstra. The 2nd level support 'expert' closed the case after advising me that the backup LED won't always be on due to low signal (my phone has an excellent signal), new firmware, atmospheric conditions, magic. After 5 goes over the barrel, I'm feeling that Telstra isn't taking me seriously.Despite my mentioning that the backup doesn't kick in when I unplug the WAN cable, and that my Router occasionally says 'No Device Connected' in the Mobile GUI page, I can get no further with the front of house people. There's either a serious lack of product training being provided to these guys, or the documentation provided with the modems is dreadfully wrong.I'm going to see if I can get one of my old workmates (I'm a recent ex-employee) to raise a TER for this.

Re: Confusion with Telstra Smart Modem

Hi, I just got got a Smart modem yesterday. Long story short, I don't have Cable connected to my home yet. So no wall cable socket yet. I was told by the salesperson that I can use the Smart modem's backup feature until I get the cable connected.

"Signal" and "Online" lights never came on. After so many phone calls and chats (of course resets) I have decided to take it to the local store because I was sure it was faulty. Guess what... it was.

Have your modem replaced if you don't get the Signal & Online lights on. Hope this help.

Re: Confusion with Telstra Smart Modem

Well I don't normally like to spit the dummy, but this time I'm feeling pretty darned badly done by.

I ended up talking to another support person about my backup issue when I tried to update a problem with my account, and got told yet again that I should wait until the FTTP connection to my house went down. Once the FTTP died, if then the 4G didn't kick in I could ring through to complain. My saying that the router was actually showing a red banner saying 'No Device Connected' in the wireless page fell on deaf ears.This cheeses me off, given the abject failure of Telstra's front line support groups to properly identify and act on this issue.My account problem is that my broadband service does not show up in my account page due to a stalled change-of-owner order (my bill has had no broadband component for 3 months now). It's even remotely possible that the 4G backup is broken because no one actually owns this service. Getting anyone to check this seems impossible. The FOH people are immovable on the point of getting someone actually technical involved.

Re: Confusion with Telstra Smart Modem

I'll add my experience just so you don't think you are going mad. There is obviously an issue with the 4G failover.

I have had a number of issues over many days (more than a week) since transferring to my new Telstra Cable Plan (switching from TPG ADSL). Lucky I have kept TPG active.

Telstra helpdesk just go through the numbers and don't listen to what you’re telling them. They had me plug and unplug the cables, switch on/off the modem/adaptor sooo many times. The router seems fine except for this 4G issue. I set my entire home network which is way more complicated than most homes.

The problems started with repeated dropouts (4-8 per day) and the 4G backup failing to takeover. After many, many hours on numerous calls Telstra finally agreed to send a tech. He checked the street and into house connections and I went into the roof. Pre-owners of the house had Foxtel which I never had connected since moving in 10 years ago. They had installed a 4-way splitter that was heavily corroded and exceeds specs (they probably enlisted ‘the cable guy’) so we replaced 'all' the connectors which were showing signs of corrosion. It seemed perfect for 24 hours then a three hour outage that first level tech described as an outage. I couldn't get them to explain why it didn't failover to 4G so they escalated me to next level help. After three (3) hours on-hold, just five minutes before they took my call guess what? It came back online. SO we had nothing to check other than him telling me there was no reported outage in my area, so of course it wouldn’t failover to 4G.

So back to the point. Recognising the corrosion issues resolved, "why" didn't the 4G kick in? Their answer similar to the above is that it needs to detect the line is down not simply a flaky connection. I told them that the mobile light was not glowing and Network status on mobile says "Registration denied". Which apparently means nothing to them because they don’t even know what modem settings I’m referring to (they seem to have old reference materials), however 2 further calls and they decided just to send me a new modem. Unfortunately it has the exact same 4G issue.

Having to wait for an "outage" just doesn't make sense when they say you can use the modem until the cable is installed. In other words disconnecting the cable should have the same effect. Even the attending tech told me that (noting he didn’t look at the modem but just said request a new modem). One of the online techs also told me that pulling the cable from the wall would force a 4G failover but be prepared because Telstra would ring after a short time to investigate possible abuse of the 4G failover (apparently some people get better 4G service than ADSL/cable and like to switch over – clearly not an issue for me as I’m getting 56Mbps over cable and 0Mbps over 4G).

So back onto tech desk I suppose. I don't want a new modem if it's just a simple switch/setting to be turned on at their end. I spent some time configuring the modem with reservations etc.

Excluding those with intermittent 4G, in my case, it just seems very much like someone forgetting to tell the mobile team to activate the SIM.

To end on a higher note, the people I have spoken to are very courteous if somewhat technically constrained by the necessity to follow the script.

Re: Confusion with Telstra Smart Modem

Well, I'm back with good news.Carlos, my Case Manager, put me in touch with someone further up the food chain in the Broadband Support area who actually listened to my issues, got me to unplug the WAN cable (which had no effect) and then decided to send out a new Smart Modem. Carlos rode that to completion, and the new Smart Modem is sitting in my lounge room humming along -with the Signal light shining away happily.This time around, I only powered up the modem with no other cables attached. After booting up, the modem sat quietly for a while, and then the green 'Signal' light and pink 'Online' light went on showing a working and authenticated 4G connection. After taking some screen shots as evidence, I connected everything else and it all seems to work. The 'Signal' light is permanently on, although given the signal paths in my area it does change to orange occasionally.If only the first level people who handled my first 5 attempts at getting this fixed had listened and either sent out a new modem or at least escalated to someone with a clue. I'd have had this fixed a month ago. Instead, I got (repeatedly) the same BS about the light being supposed to be off, and that it would come on when I needed it, despite the 'Registration Denied' message in the GUI.I know that these guys are only following a script, but that's cold comfort to someone with an actual fault.Can someone get the offshore scripting amended to reflect reality? Can we also get the offshore KPIs amended so that they don't get penalized for escalating faults?I'm glad that this has eventually been sorted out, but it's taken some industrial strength whinging on my part, and some good work on Carlos's part. Imagine if 'Fix it first time' wasn't just a buzzword...NPS of +10 for Carlos and his mates.

Re: Confusion with Telstra Smart Modem

As mentioned above neither my initial modem or the replacement would connect over 4G, with no sign of 'Mobile 4G' life in either the GUI or the modem's 4G light (on top - 'wireless').

I got both modems working over 4G following the above from "Wusl_au". Yellow light downstairs and green when placed in its regular position upstairs.

I even got the SMS from Telstra telling me the modem switched to 4G (about 15 minutes after it switched) and another SMS telling me it switched back to cable (though this latter SMS took 24hrs to receive).

Seems modem must 'handshake' 4G first. I haven't tested whether this is required every power-cycle.

48 hours later and 4G light still green.

Telstra has got to update their help desk resources, it will save them money and us a lot of time and stress.

Re: Confusion with Telstra Smart Modem

Hi I recently had a planned Telstra cable outage which went well beyond the outage window (8.30am-4pm) an my old Telstra Gateway Max failed to recover until I did multiple resets and had Telstra support do some reset from there end. Down 38 hours or so and used a heap of mobile data during this outage which Telstra refused to provide additional data so far. Anyway my case manager offered Telstra smart with 4g backup (DJA0230). Great solution as should avoid future outages and leverages data on my existing cable service rather than my mobile account. New Modem turns up with cable adaptor, cabled it up and activate the cable modem and internet working well. Notice the instruction card with the modem states the Backup Signal Strength indicator LED should be Green, Yellow or Red to indicate signal strength, but mine was off. So after calling Telstra support and going through countless reboots and factory resets, i started to get various excuses as to why the LED is not on. Eg. It only works when there is a real outage? Really so no cable connection is not a real outage? Then i got there must be a 4g outage in my area? Really, while on the phone i checked my mobile 4g connectivity ensuring both 4g and good signal i the did a quick goigle search and it works fine right next to the modem? Then it was then 4G signal was too low in my area, so i was ask to move the modem to a window where i had stronger 4g signal and try again, still no backup signal light or internet without cable connected. So also while doing the tests listed above i was monitoring the advance web interface on the modem on the mobile page with my tablet and took several screen shots of the various diagonostics on the modem. So after the second 2 hour plus session i cracked it and ask my case manager and asked her to call back when they access to someone who actually knew something about this modem. What i mostly observed that when the modem is reset after reconnecting to wifi and the web interface, then on the mobile page states it is connecting and on diagnostic tab is that states Network Status: Registration denied this never changed during all the testing, except after about a 10 minute period where it gives up and the all tabs just state no device connected. Also on the mobile page, diagnostic tab, noticed the Service Status: was either limited service or no service, and that the various other status fields where sometime populated and other times not. Regardless after now finding this post i am convinced it is hardware problem as per other post above which suggest the only solution is to get the modem replaced. Provided my case manage calls back at some stage? So hopefully this post will help some others out in future and maybe avoid a couple of hours of debug6ing and provide a few quick checks, but generally if the back signal strength light doesn't come on even after a factory reset then i suspect you are going to need the modem replaced, as looks like that has been the only solution above. Please someone from Telstra update your support staff so they can find this issue and order a new modem quickly, and ho p efully i too can get a sorking modem soon!

Re: Confusion with Telstra Smart Modem

It now works fine, Thank you. i assume you managed to work out the sim details i provided to my complaits manage Irene. Thanks you for what ever you did far better response than sitting on the phone tring to explain the symptoms

Re: Confusion with Telstra Smart Modem

I can't take credit for yours specifically I'm afraid but I know they had a delay provisioning a batch of SIMs and yours was probably one of them. Probably part of the batch that I gave them examples of from other customer's having the same issue

I am a Premium Services Support Consultant (Telstra Platinum, Telstra Smart Home, Locator/Device Locator and Neto POS). However, I am not an official representative on CrowdSupport.

Re: Confusion with Telstra Smart Modem

Hi,How many ‘Smart modem’ did you receive? It seems like you received two Smart modem, the first one wasn’t activated on arrival and you received a second one as replacement. There could be a delay on the SIM activation on your first modem, and your broadband account was not updated with the second modem’s serial number. So try with your first received Smart Modem again and see.

Re: Confusion with Telstra Smart Modem

Not sure this is a good advice to Telstra customer! The experience with the off-shore support team was terrible, the written process or support procedure did not cover how to deal with “no 4G fall back” on ‘Smart Modem’ or ‘Frontier gateway’. The level 2 supporting staff do not understand there is no mobile phone number on the built in SIM within the Frontier or Smart modem, they keep asking for the number to check on the SIM! Please provide more training to the support staff

Re: Confusion with Telstra Smart Modem

Theres nothing wrong with the signal light being orange, it just indicates the 4g signal strength. As the light is on it indicates the 4g sim card is provisioned, even with an orange signal light youll still be able to get the 6/1 speeds.